Citizen Kaneis a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. It was Welles' first feature film. The story is a film à clefthat examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and aspects of Welles's own life. Though unusual,this film, Welles' first was his best with an amazing combination of reality and fiction, composed with a mastery of light, sound, camera angle, focus, and mise-en-scene. The light used in this particular scene is both high-keyand low-key lighting. When the scene focuses on minor character or a crowd, the frame contains low-key, high-contrast lighting. When the frame focuses on Kane himself, or his family, the light is evenly distributed throughout, so these frames containe low-key lighting. The final section of the scene with Gettys is heavily shadowed to add a dramatic element to the scene. The soundn in this scene is continuous: there is almost no gap between the speech of one of Kane's supporters and his own speech. For a moment, the viewer cannot tell whose voice they are actually hearing. THe speeches are loud like they are spoken through a megaphone. The only quite noise is the voice of Junior and his mother.There is little speech besides the two main speakers: Kane and his supporter. The only other speakers are a man in the crowd in the first part of the scene and Junior and his mother speaking at the end. Also, there is faint clapping at the beginning of the scene. The camera angles start with a wide shot of the Kane supporter which pans and zooms onto his face. Then it cuts to a poster of Kane, which pans to a high angle shot of Kane. This cuts to an extreme wide shot of the stadium Kane is speaking in. This fades back into a wide shot of Kane speaking, which zooms into a low-angle shot of Kane. Then it cuts to a mid-shot of Junior and his mother. This cuts to a off-center, low-angle wide shot of Kane. A mid-shot of Kane then follows. Then we come back to Junior and then back to Kane, all in mid-shots, at eye-level or high-angle.This cuts to a slightly-below eye-level shot of a man watching and then back to a wide shot of Kane. This is followed by a shotrt shot of audience members at the speech and then back to Junior at a high-angle shot. Then, we return to the wide shot of Kane that zooms in to a mid-shot and then cuts back to the audience. Following is an extreme wide shot of Kane that somes to a mid-shot and the pan and zooms to a wide shot of Gettys alone on the balcony.THe main focus in the scene is Kane himself. The first part of the scene does not really have a main focus, but it contains the deep focus that Welles is famous for. Throughout the scene, this deep focus remains so that even in an extreme wide angle, you can still see the head of every person in the shot. The mise-en-scène is very elaborate. Most of the scene is consumed in a decor of posters of Kane. He is dressed in a suit, as are most male members of the cast in this scene. Even Junior is dressed in a coat. Kane's wife is dressed in a fancy white outfit with jewelery. The location is mostly a gathering area for Kane supporters or the stadium where Kane is speaking. The lighting is a combination of high-key and low-key lighting. High-key lighting for Kane, Junior, and Mrs. Kane; low-key lighting for every other character. Citizen Kane is a complex movie, both thematically and stylistically.
The scene:
What I Expect of Citizen Kane:
From the interviews with Scorsese, Spielberg, and Welles himself, I expect a well-written and framed film about a Hearst-like magnate and his life. I have already seen the film, so I know what it's about, but I expect to see more into the mise-en-scène of the film, because I did not notice this before, when I watched the film. I expect to see more clues into the meaning of "rosebud". I know what it means now, but I think that there will be clues present thorughout the film. Anyway, I hope that CItizen Kane will be an enjoyable film, which I can take influence from in the future, in terms of both story and filming style.
Citizen Kaneis a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. It was Welles' first feature film. The story is a film à clefthat examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and aspects of Welles's own life. Though unusual,this film, Welles' first was his best with an amazing combination of reality and fiction, composed with a mastery of light, sound, camera angle, focus, and mise-en-scene. The light used in this particular scene is both high-keyand low-key lighting. When the scene focuses on minor character or a crowd, the frame contains low-key, high-contrast lighting. When the frame focuses on Kane himself, or his family, the light is evenly distributed throughout, so these frames containe low-key lighting. The final section of the scene with Gettys is heavily shadowed to add a dramatic element to the scene. The soundn in this scene is continuous: there is almost no gap between the speech of one of Kane's supporters and his own speech. For a moment, the viewer cannot tell whose voice they are actually hearing. THe speeches are loud like they are spoken through a megaphone. The only quite noise is the voice of Junior and his mother.There is little speech besides the two main speakers: Kane and his supporter. The only other speakers are a man in the crowd in the first part of the scene and Junior and his mother speaking at the end. Also, there is faint clapping at the beginning of the scene. The camera angles start with a wide shot of the Kane supporter which pans and zooms onto his face. Then it cuts to a poster of Kane, which pans to a high angle shot of Kane. This cuts to an extreme wide shot of the stadium Kane is speaking in. This fades back into a wide shot of Kane speaking, which zooms into a low-angle shot of Kane. Then it cuts to a mid-shot of Junior and his mother. This cuts to a off-center, low-angle wide shot of Kane. A mid-shot of Kane then follows. Then we come back to Junior and then back to Kane, all in mid-shots, at eye-level or high-angle.This cuts to a slightly-below eye-level shot of a man watching and then back to a wide shot of Kane. This is followed by a shotrt shot of audience members at the speech and then back to Junior at a high-angle shot. Then, we return to the wide shot of Kane that zooms in to a mid-shot and then cuts back to the audience. Following is an extreme wide shot of Kane that somes to a mid-shot and the pan and zooms to a wide shot of Gettys alone on the balcony.THe main focus in the scene is Kane himself. The first part of the scene does not really have a main focus, but it contains the deep focus that Welles is famous for. Throughout the scene, this deep focus remains so that even in an extreme wide angle, you can still see the head of every person in the shot. The mise-en-scène is very elaborate. Most of the scene is consumed in a decor of posters of Kane. He is dressed in a suit, as are most male members of the cast in this scene. Even Junior is dressed in a coat. Kane's wife is dressed in a fancy white outfit with jewelery. The location is mostly a gathering area for Kane supporters or the stadium where Kane is speaking. The lighting is a combination of high-key and low-key lighting. High-key lighting for Kane, Junior, and Mrs. Kane; low-key lighting for every other character. Citizen Kane is a complex movie, both thematically and stylistically.
The scene:
What I Expect of Citizen Kane:
From the interviews with Scorsese, Spielberg, and Welles himself, I expect a well-written and framed film about a Hearst-like magnate and his life. I have already seen the film, so I know what it's about, but I expect to see more into the mise-en-scène of the film, because I did not notice this before, when I watched the film. I expect to see more clues into the meaning of "rosebud". I know what it means now, but I think that there will be clues present thorughout the film. Anyway, I hope that CItizen Kane will be an enjoyable film, which I can take influence from in the future, in terms of both story and filming style.
The Interviews:
Orson Welles
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
More Posters from Citizen Kane: